SINGAPORE: “Are the younger people (in their 20s) of Singapore getting richer and richer nowadays?” was the question a man brought up in an online forum on Thursday (Jan 9) after spotting a youth at an ATM withdrawing money from his over $30,000 savings.
“Well, I was at an ATM queuing to withdraw 10 bucks out of my $2K savings in the bank, so I was impatient as my lunch hour was almost times up,” he wrote.
“I accidentally peaked over a young fellow in his 20s who seemed to be hoarding the machine for withdrawal transactions and saw the screen on the machine showing ‘$3x,xxx.xx. in savings account’.
I didn’t see the exact amount but was very sure there were a lot of digits at the back,” he recalled.
He also shared his shock upon seeing the amount. “I was astonished,” he said. “Gee, why does it seem to me that nowadays, younger ones are so much richer than older people like me? It just implies these young people are really money-smart. How did they do it?”
In the post’s comments section, some tried to come up with possible explanations for what the man reportedly saw.
“Let’s say he earns $4K per month, stays with his parents, then his take-home earning after CPF is $3.2K. He can save $2K monthly minus household contributions and miscellaneous spending. Not counting interest, he’ll have $30K within one year, 3 months,” one pondered.
“Older people have more commitments, you cannot compare,” another pointed out. “Some people buy a house and need to pay the mortgage, pay bills, take care of kids, and buy maintenance supplies… all of which I think escapes the youths of today mostly.
He could also be staying with his parents rent-free, not going out much, etc., or a combination of everything. If I earn $2K and don’t need to consider food and transportation, I take home $1.6K and save at least $1.3K minus the transport fees to work ~$1.3K in a year is $15.6K saved.
Also, just because that one youth is quite blessed and already has parents paying for everything doesn’t mean all youths are like that. You probably found a needle in the haystack, perchance for that dude.”
“It could be an allowance or a lump sum from parents,” a third shared. “Or it could be savings from all his part-time jobs or also gains from investments. Younger people start working part-time right after Os/As nowadays and do internships during their uni holidays.
They are much more money savvy nowadays, so it’s not that much of a surprise.”